Sanju Samson the rock behind India A’s solid performance

India A winning a quadrangular series Down Under is always a special event and rare too. The young, vibrant India A landed in Australia with lot of expectations along with uncertainty of adapting to the conditions. But, in the end the men in blue proved to be too good for the two opponents. One of the most prominent stars in the series is teenager Sanju Samson.

The wicketkeeper batsman a natural opener changed to no. 3 position and batted no. 6 for this series. He was given the role of taking the middle order pressure and finishing the Innings for India A. Sanju did that to perfection as well with 244 runs in 7 innings at an over whelming average of 81.33 and striking at 86.21. Though batted down the order he ended the tour on testing conditions as highest run-getter for India A closely followed by Kedar Jadhav at 225.

Samson stayed unbeaten thrice in four run chases India A successfully achieved. The 55 off 80 balls against National Performance Squad (NPS) and 49 not out from 51 balls versus Australia A had to be the most impactful. These also set the tone of the series, as the team rising high on his performance India A not only won on tough occasions but it also gave confidence to the top order.

An early start to his career and good run for Kerala in the Ranji season being the highest run getter with 533 runs with an average of 58.88 in the 2013-14 season. This also paved way for him into the Indian Premier League where he impressed one and all with his attacking and fearless batting.

Sanju was also a part of the India U-19 world cup team and went on to become the vice captain of the team as well. For an inspiring year in the IPL he was awarded the Rising player of the tournament and was thoroughly acclaimed by the coach and mentor of RR Rahul Dravid. 2014 season saw him score 339 runs in 13 matches with two half-tons took care of the RR middle order. A wicket keeper batsman with such an exquisite batting technique and skill is a real find for the country plus the factor that he is so young has decades of cricketing service to offer.

Former players, coaches have been all praises for the young star. India A fielding coach Abhay Sharma is also all praises calling him ‘ Future of Indian Cricket’ In his interview to Espncricinfo.com Abhay said, ” He is definately the future star of Indian cricket. He is an intellegent cricketer, adapts his game according to the match situation and bats responsibly as well.” He also heaped praise on his wicket keeping skill saying, “Every day he improves behind the wicket as well. But we need to handle him carefully enough to keep him upto expectations. His future will depend a lot on how he is take care off and how his skills are utilized without taking a toll on his form and fitness.

All eyes will now be on his performance in the Duleep Trophy and other domestic tournaments as they will be evident play ground for India’s World Cup 2015 squad selection. Sanju Samson has made a real case for his national selection by now the “ Wonder Boy” from Kerala will soon be the ‘Wonder Man’ of Indian cricket.